Flemings Farm
FLEMINGS FARM: Forced landing site
Location: Just S of the Hanningfield Resevoir, about 3.5nm NE of Billericay
NOTES: On the 3rd February 2011 an unexpected break in the weather occurred and many pilots went flying. It was a beautiful day and so Neil Rankin thought when he took off from STAPLEFORD in the Tipsy Nipper G-ATBW operated by the Stapleford Tipsy Nipper Group. That was until south of the Hanninfield Resevoir the Nipper suddenly shook, and the propeller fell off. Many people think Essex is flat as a pancake and they are much mistaken; and a good example of it’s ‘sudden hilliness’ occurs in this area.
Neil held his nerve and selected a smallish but very suitable field and performed a text-book ‘dead-stick’ landing without putting a scratch on the Nipper. I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of days later when tasked with transporting the Nipper back to STAPLEFORD.
I also mention this incident as further proof of my personal theory that, in England at least, nigh on every second field probably has an aviation connection…damn it!
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